1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electronic calculators and more specifically to a project calculator having an integral distance measurement sensor for calculating various materials needed in the building trade, for home improvement projects, and/or for quantity surveying.
2. Description of the Related Art
Calculators are well known in the art. Typically, a calculator is comprised of a keyboard and/or keypad, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a printed circuit board (PCB) containing a microprocessor that performs calculations, and a power source supplying energy to the other components. The calculations are performed using algorithms derived from standard arithmetic formulas. Recently, the complexity of calculators, as well as the number of applications available for calculators has increased dramatically, with more calculators appearing that are designed for specific trades or job functions. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,721,623 discloses a woodworking and home improvement calculator that uses individual keys to select a building material type and requires a user to enter the values needed for the calculation.
One problem with conventional home improvement calculators is that they tend to be large and complex. Another problem with conventional home improvement calculators is that they use individual keys to select the building material, which limits the functionality of the calculator. For every new building material, a new unique key is required. This approach limits the building materials that can be selected on the calculator, since there is a physical limit to the number of buttons that can be included on the calculator before the design becomes impractical.
Another problem with conventional home improvement calculators is the inability to receive data input from integrated sensors that can measure distance. As a result, a user of a conventional home improvement calculator still has to physically measure the distances involved using, for example, a conventional tape measure. There is a need for a project calculator capable of overcoming the above-mentioned problems.